Unopened box adds another wrinkle to embattled Broomfield election

Contents could include ballots and other materials

Examination of the previously unopened box of ballots and election materials will be at 10 a.m Friday in the basement conference room of the George Di Ciero City and County Building, 1 DesCombes Drive. The examination is open to the public.

Broomfield election judges on Friday morning will open and examine a box of previously uncounted ballots and other election-related materials.

It is unclear how the contents of the box will impact the already embattled election, which is the subject of three legal challenges.

City Manager Charles Ozaki said staff has not counted or officially detailed what is inside the box, because it it more appropriate for election judges to categorize and examine the materials, not city staff.

The materials are thought to include about 75 ballots that couldn't be counted, because they were not marked, returned undeliverable or contained enough mistakes they warranted a voter request for a new ballot.

Ozaki said the box also could contain two ballots that have not been unsealed and could contain legitimately voted ballots.

Other election-related materials, such as envelopes or other papers, also could be in the box.

It is unclear why the box was not examined during the Nov. 5 election or during the weeks that followed. It also is unclear what deciding factors were used to place the materials in the box.

“It would have been better to have all the materials in one place,” Ozaki said.

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Because it's not known exactly what's in the box, it's hard to know how the contents could affect election results, Ozaki said.

Yet Marilyn Marks, who heads up the voter advocacy group Citizen Center, said she believes the box is one more piece of evidence that the election is deeply flawed.

“There are clearly so many questionable ballots, and I don't see how the election could be certified,” she said.

Ozaki said the potential for a new election should be left up to a judge.

Marks said she expects to have a more nuanced perspective on the future of the election after she and election judges see exactly what is in the box. Yet she still doubts anyone could determine true voter intent without organizing a new election.

“With so much unverifiable information, there is no way either side can have confidence in the stated outcome,” she said.

The ballots and other materials in the box have not been counted or officially indexed, but Broomfield staff believes the majority of the ballots were either “un-voted,” meaning they did not have marks on them that indicated voter action, or “spoiled,” meaning the voter made enough mistakes on his or her ballot that they had to request a replacement, according to Ozaki.

Those replacement ballot would have been tracked in the official election database, Ozaki said in an email to city staff.

Two of the ballots remain in unopened ballot envelopes.

The box is yet another piece in the ongoing controversy surrounding the Broomfield election and more specifically a fracking ban passed in the election.

In unofficial election night results, the measure to ban fracking for five years was failing by 13 votes, but after outstanding ballots were counted a week later, it was approved by 17 votes. The measure, which was subject to a mandatory recount because the margin of victory was so slim, passed by 20 votes after the recount was completed.

Three legal challenges have been filed regarding the election and the ban, and the Colorado Secretary of State's Office in November issued a scathing report criticizing the way Broomfield conducted the election. The report cited issues such as “illegally and improperly updating voters' residential addresses; illegally issuing ballots from drop-off locations away from the clerk's office; improperly counting ballots cast by ineligible electors; and improperly rejecting ballots cast by eligible electors.”

The legal challenges stretch back to early December, when on Dec. 3 pro-fracking group Broomfield Balanced Energy Coalition, or BBEC, filed a lawsuit alleging the Broomfield elections division failed to provide access to BBEC election watchers throughout the ballot-counting process. Broomfield City and County Attorney Bill Tuthill said Broomfield has given election watchers fair access.

Broomfield Balanced Energy Coalition also has filed an official election contest, which challenges the results of the election.

In December, District Court Judge Francis Wasserman blocked certification of the election results, after the results were already certified by Broomfield's canvass board on Dec. 5.

More recently, Marks' voter advocacy group, Citizen Center, asked that Broomfield be ordered to turn over ballots and ballot-related information from the election. Representatives from the group and city officials were in Wasserman's court Monday, where both sides were given 10 days to file summaries of their arguments.

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